!Picby Pete Bodo
John Isner feels that this time, "it clicked." It really did. He could almost hear it. Click!
Isner was trying to describe what he took away from his upset of Roger Federer on red clay on the all-time Grand Slam champion's home turf in Fribourg.
Isner's 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-2 win in the first round of Davis Cup World Group play gave the USA a 2-0 lead—and the impetus to sweep the home team, five matches to none.
It isn't like Isner had a startling revelation before the match, nor did he come up with a revised game plan or even a magic tactical bullet. This time, Isner said in a conference call Thursday, he made a committment to the basic blueprint that might guide him even higher than his present career-high ranking of No. 14. "(U.S. Davis Cup) Captain (Jim) Courier was on me all week, and my coach back home (Craig Boynton) has been saying it all along. I also kept telling myself, 'I'm only going to beat this guy if I play the right way. . . Keep the points short, make the matches go fast, play aggressively and conserve my energy.' "
He added, "If I can duplicate the game plan I had against Roger, I'll get better. I do think that right now, the next three or four years, is my time."
Isner said he learned a bitter lesson at the recent Australian Open, where he was extended to 10-8 in the fifth in a controversy-marred second-round match by David Nalbandian. It will be cold comfort to fans who thought that David Nalbandian was robbed of his chance to win because of an erroneous overrule and the subsesquent procedural controversy, but Isner also feels he also was a loser that day. "It put me in a big hole for my next match," Isner said, referring to the fatigue that contributed to his five-set loss to Feliciano Lopez in the next round.
Despite his size (6-foot-9), elasticity, and an economical game even at the worst of times, Isner often is at a disadvantage when he allows opponents, or a succession of opponents, to force him into knock-down, drag-out battles. As a shotmaker, he needs to be explosive, especially when serving, and surprisingly quick for a player whose goal is to avoid rallies. That's because he needs to move into position to dictate right off the serve, or return.
A skeptic might say that certain unexpected circumstances, including the poor condition of the clay court and Federer's puzzling loss-of-form when he was a set up and serving for 3-all in the second, had as much to do with Isner's upset as the ability of the big man to execute his bread-and-butter game plan. Granted, Federer made three egregious errors in that 2-3 service game to fall behind 0-40, but Isner did a great job recovering from a poor start to capitalize on that opportunity.
"I was a little nervous in the first set. Well, Roger cleaned my clock. But when I got ahead in the second set it was like getting my feet wet," Isner said. "I got comfortable and all the tension and pressure went away. I started swinging easy, and big."
Isner has racked up isolated big wins before. It's legtimate to wonder if one match can have a big impact on a career. Given the nature of Davis Cup, it's possible. There was no subsequent letdown and loss to, say, a Lopez. Federer was essentially playing to keep his team's hopes alive, Isner to put the USA in a position to win and thereby save Mardy Fish's win over Stan Wawrinka in the first rubber from seeming pro forma. Isner did all anyone could ask of him, which is something you can't really say of anyone at a tournament but the champ. The chain-of-events have certainly left Isner sounding hopeful.
"I didn't necessarily keep it together for five matches in a row," Isner said. "I went over and played one great match. But I'll take confidence from that. I like to think that I'm a good competitor. I know I can rise to occasions against the top guys, like I did against Roger. But now it's about bringing that kind of intensity to every single match. I know I can get even better, I can get in the Top 10, maybe Top 5. If I'm playing the right way, I'm gonna give most guys fits."
Isner next plays in Memphis, where he'll be the top seed for the first time in an ATP 500 event. "It does mean a little more pressure," he said. "But I'll welcome it. I was seeded No. 1 at Newport, too, and I won it."
Click.